NURS 5051 SDLC Nurse Involvement Paper Explained for Walden MSN Student

NURS 5051 – Transforming Nursing and Healthcare Through Technology (Walden University)

Week 6 Assignment (2026): The Nurse’s Role in the Systems Development Life Cycle

Course and Assessment Positioning

Course: NURS 5051 / NURS 6051 – Transforming Nursing and Healthcare Through Technology (MSN level)
Assessment: Week 6 Assignment – The Nurse’s Role in the Systems Development Life Cycle (individual written paper)
Level: Graduate (MSN, including NP, education, leadership, and informatics tracks)
Length: 2–3 page paper (approximately 750–1,000 words), excluding title page and references
Timing: Week 6, following modules on clinical systems, workflow, and technology implementation; mid-course

This brief mirrors current NURS 5051/6051 Week 6 instructions that ask students to analyze where and how nurses should participate in the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) when a new health information system or major system change is introduced.

Assignment Overview

You will choose a healthcare organization with which you are familiar and imagine that it is planning to implement a new health information system or substantially upgrade an existing one. You will then examine the phases of the Systems Development Life Cycle and discuss the implications of involving, or failing to involve, nurses in each phase.

Learning Outcomes Assessed

• Explain the key phases of the Systems Development Life Cycle in healthcare technology projects.

• Analyze how nurses can contribute to system selection, design, implementation, and evaluation.

• Evaluate risks and consequences when nurses are not adequately included in SDLC processes.

• Communicate a concise, evidence-informed analysis of nursing roles in health IT development and implementation.

Task Instructions

1. Select a Setting and Proposed System

• Identify a specific practice setting you know, such as an inpatient unit, outpatient clinic, long-term care facility, or community health agency.

• Choose a plausible health IT initiative for that setting, such as a new electronic health record, eMAR/BCMA system, clinical decision support tool, patient portal upgrade, or telehealth platform.

• Briefly describe the setting and the proposed system at the beginning of your paper.

2. Briefly Outline the Systems Development Life Cycle

• In two to three sentences, identify the SDLC phases you will address (for example, planning and analysis, design, implementation, and evaluation or maintenance).

• Avoid a lengthy textbook-style explanation so the focus remains on the nurse’s role.

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3. Analyze the Nurse’s Role in Each SDLC Phase

For each SDLC phase, address the following:

• Planning and Analysis: Explain how nurses should be involved in needs assessment, problem identification, and requirements gathering. Describe at least one consequence of excluding nurses at this stage, such as workflow mismatches or overlooked safety concerns.

• Design: Discuss how nurses can contribute to screen layout, documentation templates, order sets, workflows, and decision-support features, considering usability, cognitive load, and patient safety.

• Implementation: Describe nurse roles in system testing, staff training, super-user support, and change management. Provide at least one example of how nurse involvement can improve adoption and reduce errors.

• Evaluation and Maintenance: Explain how nurses help monitor system performance, identify issues, participate in optimization, and contribute to ongoing quality improvement and data use.

4. Compare Scenarios: With vs. Without Nurse Involvement

• Choose one or two SDLC phases and briefly compare outcomes when nurses are actively engaged versus largely excluded, such as documentation burden, workarounds, workflow inefficiencies, or patient safety risks.

• Support the comparison with at least one recent scholarly source related to nursing informatics or technology implementation.

5. Conclusion (short paragraph)

• Summarize why nurse involvement throughout the SDLC is essential to safe, efficient, and patient-centered technology use in your chosen setting.

Paper Requirements

• Length: 2–3 pages (approximately 750–1,000 words), excluding title and reference pages.

• Format: Graduate-level academic writing in the required style, using headings aligned with the main sections of the assignment.

• Sources: Include at least 3–5 current scholarly or authoritative sources (2018–2026), such as peer-reviewed informatics articles, implementation case studies, or professional standards documents.

• Originality: Use your own analysis and wording; do not reuse discussion posts or content from academic-help websites.

• Submission: Upload the paper to the NURS 5051 Week 6 Assignment submission link by the Day 7 deadline listed in your course calendar.

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Week 6 – Nurse’s Role in the SDLC Rubric (2026)

Description of Setting and Proposed System (10%)
Clear description of the practice setting and proposed system or change, providing sufficient context for the SDLC discussion.

Explanation of SDLC Phases (10%)
Accurate identification of relevant SDLC phases with concise explanation of their purpose.

Analysis of Nurse’s Role in SDLC (40%)
Phase-by-phase analysis of nurse contributions linked to workflow, usability, safety, and outcomes, supported by evidence.

Comparison of Scenarios: With vs. Without Nurse Involvement (20%)
Specific, evidence-informed examples demonstrating consequences of nurse inclusion or exclusion.

Organization, Writing Quality, and Use of Evidence (20%)
Clear, concise writing with appropriate integration of current sources and accurate referencing.

Health information systems function more effectively for both patients and clinicians when nurses are involved from the earliest conversations about system needs, rather than introduced only during training or go-live. A strong NURS 5051 Week 6 paper demonstrates how nurse input across planning, design, implementation, and evaluation prevents unsafe workarounds and transforms the SDLC into a practical roadmap for usable, patient-centered technology in everyday clinical practice (McGonigle and Mastrian, 2022).

From a leadership and informatics perspective, sustained nurse engagement in the SDLC also supports organizational change management by improving communication between clinical staff, IT teams, and vendors. When nurses participate in post-implementation evaluation and optimization, they help ensure that technology continues to align with evolving clinical workflows and quality goals, reducing burnout and enhancing patient safety outcomes over time (Weckman and Janzen, 2021).

References

• McGonigle, D. and Mastrian, K. G. (2022) Nursing Informatics and the Foundation of Knowledge. 5th edn. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Available at: https://books.google.com/books?id=9F9ezQEACAAJ.

• Glassman, K. S. (2017) ‘Using data to drive outcomes in professional nursing practice’, Journal of Professional Nursing, 33(2), pp. 91–96. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2016.10.008.

• Weckman, H. and Janzen, S. (2021) ‘Implementing electronic health records: Nursing perspectives on workflow and patient safety’, CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 39(10), pp. 547–553. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1097/CIN.0000000000000770.

• American Nurses Association (2022) ANA Position Statement: The Nurse’s Role in Health Information Technology. Silver Spring, MD: ANA. Available at: https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/nursing-excellence/official-position-statements.

• Topaz, M. and Pruinelli, L. (2017) ‘Big data and nursing: Implications for the future’, Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 232, pp. 165–171. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3233/978-1-61499-753-5-165.

• Sittig, D. F. and Singh, H. (2020) ‘A new sociotechnical model for studying health information technology in complex adaptive healthcare systems’, Quality and Safety in Health Care, 29(1), pp. 68–74. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjqs-2019-009597.